GreenergyDaily

Mar. 16, 2026

China's Sinopec, the world's biggest refiner by capacity, aims to cut throughput this month by more than 10% from its original ‌plan in response to a crude supply gap caused by the war in the Middle East, Reuters reported, citing two sources familiar with its operations.

The cuts by state-owned Sinopec, which accounts for a third of China's refinery output, are part of Beijing's widening measures to curb oil supply disruptions due to Iran's blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for 20% of the world's oil.

Throughput is likely to fall by 600,000 to 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) on average in March, the two sources estimated, adding that ⁠the cuts exclude losses from plant maintenance planned before the Israel-U.S. war on Iran began on February 28.

Sinopec imports roughly 4 million bpd of crude oil, of which 2.4 million bpd come from the Middle East.

Chinese refiners are likely to cut run rates by 1.5 million barrels a day to 13.5 million barrels a day from this week, according to Mia Geng, an analyst at FGE. The industry consultant's base case is for China to start releasing 1 million barrels a day from its inventories over the next four to six weeks, she said, adding that some refiners, especially in southern China, would likely be allowed to draw on commercial stockpiles to avoid major run cuts.